Vehicle-spring.



E; LANCASTER.

VEHICLE SPRING.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.14, 1908.

I 917,953. Patent Apr. 13, 1909.

MM/aw o: f hwg mifdz 3 UNITED STAT ES EEENT ()FFICE.

RALPH LANCASTER, OF NEWARK, Nan JERSEY.

vnmoLn-srnme.

Application tiled larch 151520;. fierlal No. 421,016..

- To all, whom tit-may concern:

Be it known that I, RALPH LANcAs'rEmof the city o'f Newark, county of Essex, and

' State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Vehicle-Springs, of which the following is a full, clear, and

enact description.

vehicle springs,- and more' especially to springs for automobiles, These machines are usually rather-heavy and often run at high speed, and in ractice it is found that ordinary springs w ieh' aresufiiciently resilient to prevent too great shoclrwhen an obstruction or uneven place in the road is met, have so much Lip-throw on the reaction that it is disagreeableto the occupants of the vehicle. and in fact is sometimesdam gerous as it is apt to throw the people from the seats. v

The object of my invention is to produce a sprin in which all the necessary resiliency had, at in which the up-throw is guarded against, and I do thisin such a way that there is no oflensiveshock in either direc- ..t.ijon up or down, for opposed springs are I HS6(l WlllCl'l are tied together in such away that the shock on the reaction of one is ifnQt'e or less absorbed by the other, and so through this opposed relation the car gradue ally assumes its normal level without being es eciallydisturbed'.

n carying out my invention, I use the ordinary laminated springs, but hang them I the other.

in opposed relation and connect them to,- gether loy links or levers at the end -:so that the act in opposition, and as stated the reaction of one will be partly taken up by My invention-is also intended to apply the springs inthis relation in a very's1mple I the latter being and substantial manner, to the end that durable'as well as easy springs may be provided for a vehicle.

' Specification of Lotte i Patent.

My invention relates to improvements in -?atented. April 13, 1909' ends of the opposed springs; Fig. 3

cross section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2,"and

arrangement in which the springs are shownon the rear axle of the vehicle.

The several modifications which have shown are not modifieationsin rineiple, but show rather the adaptation oi posed springs 10 to the vehicle, and it will be understood from the description which followsthat other adaptations may be made without ali ecting the principle of the invention, which consists broadlyin the opposite arrangement of opposed laminated springs and a suitable. connection between the springs and the vehicle, and between the. spring ends. f w

-As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, laminatedsprings 10 are supported on the axle 11 of an automobile, and they are placed in opposition one above the other,-being fastened byv suitable clips 12, or equivalent devices. The

front end of the upper spring 10 is pivoted to the bent end 13 of the vehicle frame, at which point,- and bythe same pivot, the

spring also connects with a link 14, the lower end of which is attached to the front end of-the lower spring 10. The rear ends ofthe springs connect together and connect to the frame 13 of the vehicleby the links 15 and16, which are pivoted together as shown, andpivoted 'to the springs, so that these links act as toggle levers, Thus it will be seen that when the wheel and 'axle jump up toward the, car, the ends of the spring 10 toggles 15 and 16 will be drawn in and the tension: on the lower spring 10 will be such as to absorb the shock and prevent too much 'up-throw. This action will be passed From one spring to the other until the spring resume their normal position, and the result is a very steady and easy movement of the vehicle body.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3 I get at the same result, but here the springs are placed 0 ositel as in Fig. 1 except that they lie side by side, but their tension is in opposite directions. At their rear ends the springs instead of connecting by toggles, connect by the belt crank 18, which is pivoted on the bracket 17 on the frame 13, and the link 19 which is pivoted to one arm of the bell crank. The bell crank ispivoted at its elbow, and its. upper arm is pivoted to one spring 10, while its lower arm connects by Fig. 4; illustrates anothcrlslightly modified.

the opwill be depressed, and on the reaction the the link 19 with the second spring. At the ends as shown at 21 and 22 so as to receive the pivotbolts. The action in this case is the same as in the structure shown in Fig. 1, the shock of one spring being absorbed by the other, andwitdwill be seen that the tilting of the bell crank and the action of the link 19 will be practically the same as that of the connected links and 16.

' In Fig.4 I have shown a convenient way of applying the principle of the invention to the rear axle of a vehicle. In this case the springs are opposed, as before but are fastened above and below the rear axle 11 The rear end of the upper spring is pivoted to a bell crank 24 which is in turn pivoted to the bracket 23 on the rear end of the frame 13, and thelower arm of the bell crank connects by a link 25 with the rear end .of the lower springs 10. The springs at their front ends connect by the link 26," and the upper spring and link connect with the bracket, 27 on the frame 13. The vaction here is as in the other cases, the up-throw ofable to have some kindof lever arrangeinent connectingtho springs at one end at least, so that there will be. a lever action j;

tween the springs t prevent the excessive up-throw. The sprin s which-I have shown and described are the laminated springs generally referred to as leaf springs.

Having thus fully described my inven tion, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent: I i

'1. The combination with a vehicle,"ofo -i p'osed leaf springs supported on the vehic e axle, and pivotal connections between the spring ends-and betweerr'the spring ends and thevehicle, at least one of said pivotal connections embodying a lever mechanism which tends to draw t-he'springends toward each. other.

2. The combination with a vehicle of 0 m posed leaf springs supported on the vehic e axle with their middle portions next'the axle and their end portions diverging, and a lever mechanism connecting the springs and vehicleuframe, said 'levermechanism tending as to draw the s ring ends toward each other.-

3. The combination with a vehicle of opposed leaf springs supported on the vehicle axle, and a-pivotal connection between the spring ends and between the spring-ends and the adjacent part of the vehicle frame, at least one of said connections embodying a lever mechanism tending to draw the sprmg ends toward each other.

a. The combination with avehicle, of o 

